Identification of CXCL9 chemokine as a potential biomarker for assessing clinical severity in COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Introduction: The severity and clinical outcome of COVID-19 depend on virus-specific factors and the host's inflammatory response. Identifying biomarkers of severe COVID-19 is a crucial condition and predicts disease severity.

Methodology: This study enrolled a total of 167 patients with COVID-19. These patients were categorized into three groups based on the severity of the disease: moderate course - 78 individuals, severe course - 52 individuals, and extremely severe course - 37 individuals. We analyzed chemokines (IP-10, CXCL9, CCL17) and cytokine IL28B levels using the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) method.

Results: CXCL9 levels were increased in severe and extremely severe cases compared to moderate ones. The CCL17 chemokine demonstrated significant elevation in severe cases. However, there was no significant difference in the level of IP-10, and IL28B in the compared groups.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that CXCL9 and CCL17 chemokines could be used as biomarkers to assess the clinical status of patients with COVID-19 and can relate to disease severity. These biomarkers could aid in identifying patients at high risk for severe disease and help guide clinical decision-making for the effective management of COVID-19.

Keywords: CCL17; COVID-19; CXCL9; IL28B; IP-10.